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January Chill
For All Nails #151: January Chill by Noel Maurer ---- :Mexico City, Capital District, USM :2 January 1975 Gerhard Eichel was not a happy man. He had known El Popo for three years, and he had lived in Mexico for over a decade before that. He understood Mexican nationalism and he understood El Popo. He knew, in his bones, that El Popo would not be able to accept what Eichel's superiors demanded from him, no matter how nicely it was sugar coated. His only hope was that the President, and the men and women around him, would give him something, some compromise, that his superiors in Berlin would accept. Unfortunately, given the political uncertainty back home, Eichel didn't know what his superiors would or would not accept these days. He was a deaf dumb and blind kid trying to play a mean flipperball. "The President will see you now," said the slim woman by the door. Ambassador Eichel nodded. A Marine guard opened the door, and the Ambassador of the German Empire to the United States of Mexico entered the presidential office. The first thing he noticed was that the fireplace was lit, a rarity, and probably as a courtesy to him. Not that it mattered -- Eichel was prepared, having made sure to wear a heavy wool suit. El Popo was seated behind his desk. Flanking him on his left was Guillermo Enciso, the Chief of Staff. As always, Eichel thought that Enciso looked like a teenage boy playing at politics. The new goatee didn't help, in Eichel's opinion. It made him seem like he was trying to look older. The Secretary of State, Maria del Rey, stood on the other side of the desk. Their presence was no surprise. The surprise came in the two men seated on one of the three couches in front of the President's desk. One was a large goateed white man puffing on a large puro. (By God, Mexicans smoked anything anywhere!) The other was slimmer, more Mexicano-looking (to Eichel, at least, who had been in Mexico long enough to know that here the man he was looking at would be considered white), and dressed in an elegant light brown business suit. The ambassador recognized him to be the Attorney-General, Arthur Luria. "Come in, Mr. Ambassador," said the President, rising from his seat and moving around to shake his hand. "Chewy and Maria you know. This man here is Arthur Luria, my Attorney-General, y this fella," he said, pointing at the mystery man with the cigar, "is Hugo Bisteni, the head of the federal Constabulary." The head of the Constabulary? Unorthodox. But unorthodoxy gave Eichel hope. "Please, sit down," said the President, indicating one of the unoccupied couches. Enciso and Del Rey shook the Ambassador's hand and took seats on the other. The President himself lowered his not-inconsiderable bulk onto a flimsy chair in front of his desk. The Ambassador remained standing. "Before we begin, sir," he said, "I have an official message from my government that I would like to read." El Popo and his cabinet had been expecting something like that for days now. "Go ahead," he said. The Ambassador took a sheet of yellowish paper from his briefcase. "His Imperial Majesty's Government," began the Ambassador, "views with alarm recent developments in Eastern Asia and Central America, with specific reference to the detonation of an explosive device of hitherto unknown power on the island of Bali and the claimed responsibility for that device of Colonel Vincent Mercator, a citizen of the United States of Mexico. "His Imperial Majesty's Government accordingly calls upon the President and Government of the United States of Mexico, by 9 January 1975, to: "(a) Deliver public and sincere assurance that the events in the island of Bali were no responsibility of the United States of Mexico. "(b) Take immediate and decisive action to locate the person of Colonel Vincent Mercator and arrest him, pending the framing of capital charges against him by such Court as may be appointed by Powers declaring an interest in the matter. "© Cooperate fully with the investigative arms of the Governments of Powers declaring an interest in this matter, such cooperation to include the granting of access to such investigative agencies as may be designated by Powers declaring an interest to any installation in the continental or offshore territory forming part of or administered by the United States of Mexico, such installations specifically including military and Federal reservations. "Should the United States of Mexico fail fully to comply with any of the conditions above, His Imperial Majesty's Government will reserve the right to consult with other Powers declaring an interest in the matter in order to establish the precise measures to be taken to coerce the Government of the United States of Mexico into compliance, such measures to be undefined and unlimited in scope." The President of United States blinked several times. "Sounds like an ultimatum, Gerhard." "Actually, it is technically a demarche, Mr. President," said the Ambassador. "'Powers taking an interest'?" asked the Secretary of State. "His Imperial Majesty's Government has been in contact with the governments of the Kingdom of Scandinavia, Great Britain, the Kingdom of Australia, and the Republic of Taiwan, in addition to our partners in the Zollverein, Madame Secretary," replied the Ambassador. "Hella list of partners, there," said the President. This was clearly Big Casino stuff. Not that they hadn't known that already. Lennart Skinner would have something pithy to say about that group, thought the President. "The world is worried," replied the Ambassador. "Well, so are we," said the President. Then, incongruously, he chuckled. FN1 Secretary of State Del Rey continued. "I want your government to know, Mr. Ambassador, that the United States of Mexico are as horrified by recent events as anyone, and that we will stop at nothing to bring Mercator to justice." An unnamed aide offered Eichel a cup of hot Chiapan coffee. Eichel gladly accepted. "Thank you, Madame Secretary. Your assurances are most welcome by His Imperial Majesty's Government. Any information about Mercator's whereabouts would be most helpful." Bisteni looked like he was about to speak, but said nothing. This was the President's show, and it was the President who responded. "We don't have Mercator, Mr. Ambassador. I know that your people back home don't believe that, but it should be pretty obvious that if we did have him we'd be happily and publicly putting him on trial." Eichel nodded. "I know that, Mr. President, but 'my people,' as you put it, need more assurances." The President nodded back. "I understand that, Mr. Ambassador. You realize that I can't agree to turn over a Mexican citizen to some sort of international tribunal for trial, but I feel confident that should we find him you won't mind us trying him ourselves." The Ambassador nodded. No, he wouldn't mind, and he was sure that every diplomatic and intelligence service would be telling their governments that the Mexicans could be trusted to try Mercator. What he didn't know was who would be in Berlin when and if the Mexicans caught the renegade Colonel. Taking the Ambassador's nod for assent, El Popo continued. "Mr. Luria's department is charged with investigating Mercator's disappearance, y we are, por supuesto, prepared to accept any help in locating him from the people of the German Empire." Eichel glanced at Del Rey. "Yes, of course, Mr. President. The, ah, people of the German Empire stand ready to help our long-standing ally in any way possible." It wasn't quite the standard formulation, but Eichel had to admit that "people of the German Empire" had a certain ring to it. Maria del Rey, smoothing her skirt over her crossed legs, politely interjected. "We know that the German Empire possesses a highly skilled police service, and should you wish to lend us the aid of any investigators, we would be happy to take them onto the team." Luria added, "That's right, Mr. Ambassador. We've got teams of investigators working round the clock on this case, and any help would be welcome." Eichel was quite relieved by the offer. It had Maria del Rey's fingerprints all over it. He didn't know how she had convinced the President to allow German law-enforcement agents to participate in the Mexican investigation, but she had. Sadly, it was not enough. Berlin had been quite explicit. More than mere "participation" would be required. "What do you know so far?" asked the Ambassador. "Well," replied Luria, "We're almost positive that the ex-Secretary is in either New Granada or Rio Negro." As he talked, he opened the briefcase by his feet, and pulled out a large file. "The evidence that he was in New Granada before the Christmas Bombing is overwhelming. It's all here in this file. Since then, our evidence is weaker, but we're still almost positive. We've got intercepted transmissions from FANG units alluding to his presence in-country. We've also got reports from Jeffersonista guerrillas who have spotted heavily armed mystery convoys near the Rio Negro border. We're sure that he hasn't gotten out by land or by air: we've got the Guatemalan border sealed up tight, and every landing in Mexico or our Caribbean allies from New Granada has been carefully scrutinized by federal agents. My federal agents, Mr. Ambassador, not the War Department's." Eichel saw Bisteni raise an eyebrow at the "my." Luria handed the file to Eichel. Eichel nodded. "This is very helpful. Thank you. And accepting our offer of law enforcement aid," an offer that had not yet been made, but hopefully soon would be, "will go a long way towards allaying suspicions of Mexican culpability in last week's atrocity." He paused. This would be hard part. "The governments of Powers declaring an interest in this matter look forward to sending their own investigatory teams to work with Mexico in tracking down the scope of Mercator's illegal programs." "Aaaaahhhhhhhhhh nah," said the President. "'Scuse me?" said the mystery man, through a haze of humo de puro. "I understand," said Maria del Rey. She was talking to the President, not the Ambassador. "Mr. Ambassador," said the President, "No disrespect intended, but foreign teams will not be allowed inside Mexican military installations." Eichel sighed. "I'm afraid that His Imperial Majesty's Government's instructions regarding that are very clear. They want to participate, actively participate, in any investigation." "Jaaaaaaah mah." Del Rey had warned the President that this was coming, but he still had to gather himself. "That won't be possible, Mr. Ambassador. We can't let foreigners traipse around our military installations -- especially since they are now our military installations again." "I understand, Mr. President. His Imperial Majesty's Government, along with the governments of other interested Powers," the President raised his eyebrows at this surprise list of Mexico's ostensible enemies, "are, however, willing to publicly absolve Mexico of all complicity in Mercator's crime should our investigatory teams receive access to your military facilities." The President shook his head. "No." Eichel nodded. "The public relations consequences of a refusal could be quite serious, Mr. President." Maria del Rey spoke up, "I understand that your government is seeking Mercator's whereabouts, or help in locating him, and not access to sensitive military information?" "That would be correct, ma'am," replied Eichel. "That doesn't require open-ended access to our military facilities, does it, Mr. Ambassador?" asked Del Rey. "I don't believe so, no," answered Eichel. "So why are you asking me for it?" interjected the President. "Sir, your former Secretary of War exploded a new and unprecedently-powerful atomic device in neutral territory and killed tens of thousands of people. Your government developed this bomb. You may have more bombs. You may have more bombs already planted inside other nations. I know that you aren't complicit in this, but my government needs to know what Mercator has planned. We are, after all, your allies. If you are suspect, then we are suspect. That is why we have been talking to other European and Asian powers." "Say-tay-say," said Enciso, speaking up for the first time. FN2 The President nodded. "God damn Mercator," he muttered. "Alright. Bisteni? Talk to the man." The man with the cigar took it from his mouth and stubbed it out on an ashtray next to the couch, sending up a puff of smoke. "Mr. Ambassador? I've got Constabulary agents going over Coyoacán with a fine-tooth comb. We've got every regular AUSM or NUSM officer who ever set foot in the place -- and that's tens of thousands of people -- under investigation. We've got men going over every goddamned filing cabinet in that place. We're going down the ducts, into the basements, over the grass. Every freaking investigator I've got, practically, is on that case." Luria added, "You can verify that, Mr. Ambassador." "It's a great time to be a cigarro smuggler," mumbled Enciso. The President snorted. "You see, Mr. Ambassador," said the President, "We've got Justice Department people blanketing the War Department's headquarters." "And," smoothly added Del Rey, "our offer to accept help from German civilian law enforcement agents in conducting our investigation still stands." "You won't have total access to every document we find," added Bisteni. "National security y all that crap. But your guys will be working with me. Personally." Luria nodded. "You'll have the Justice Department's full co-operation." Enciso leaned forward. "You means Germany, not all-interested-Powers." That was understood already, but the Chief of Staff still had some things to learn about international diplomacy. Eichel understood that this was as much as the Mexicans were prepared to offer. He had no idea whether it would be enough for Berlin. Therefore, he decided to lay his cards on the table. "I honestly don't know if this will be enough for my bosses, Mr. President, Madame Secretary. We are in uncharted territory. I can tell you that if it is not enough Mexico will become an international pariah. I have been explicitly authorized to warn you that you face economic sanctions if our concerns are not satisfied." The President snorted. "I don't respond to threats." Enciso added, "We aren't Scandinavia, Mr. Ambassador. You'd be shooting yourself in the head by boycotting us." "I know that," replied Eichel. "That is why I am not sure that sanctions are, uh, the only possible response if our concerns are not met." The President grunted. It sounded dismissive. Eichel continued. "On the other hand, if His Imperial Majesty's Government's concerns are met, then Mexico will, of course, be considered an 'interested power' should the investigation lead elsewhere." Eichel didn't know if El Popo would immediately understand the meaning of that sentence, but the Ambassador was quite sure that María del Rey did. Stand aloof, and we attack New Granada without you. Give us what we want, and you can run that show. The Secretary of State took up the ball. "You'll have access to the results of our investigation, and your civilians can work with us at the highest level. That should be enough to alleviate your concerns and demonstrate our good faith." "I hope so, Madame Secretary." "I do too," said the President, standing. The meeting was over. Eichel stood himself and shook the President's hand. He had gotten more than he had expected to -- now all he could hope for was that it satisfied his superiors back home. Eichel left the room. Moctezuma's personal secretary walked in, and after hearing the door shut, she spoke. "Lennart Skinner and Carter Monaghan are on the hotline, Mr. President." FN3 Chewy Enciso's eyes opened wide, but Maria del Rey inwardly smirked, knowing that if she and El Popo were teaming up for this problem, even the Vandalia/Georgia border could be bridged. ---- Proceed to #152: (2 January 1975, American War) The Hotline. Proceed to USM Politics: Notes From the Investigation, Part 1. Proceed to Germany: One if by Land and Two if by Sea. Return to For All Nails. Category:American War Category:Germany Category:USM politics